Last Sunday, Mason Rudolph found out in the locker room at halftime that he would fill in for an injured Aaron Rodgers. This week, Rudolph had 24 hours notice. Speaking to reporters following the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 31-28 loss to the Chicago Bears, Rudolph walked through when he found out he was getting the nod.
“Yesterday,” Rudolph said via the team’s website, referring to Saturday.
Mike Tomlin confirmed the same during his post-game press conference. Pittsburgh didn’t make a true game-time decision but came close, keeping the door open for Rodgers to return all last week before deciding to shelve him for one week. That decision was kept under wraps until Sunday morning when Tomlin himself confirmed the news, proving once again that the Steelers have the fewest leaks of any organization.
But that’s faint praise for a team that came up short Sunday. Rudolph and the offense posted 21 points, seven others came on a defensive score, and put together strong drives in moments. A 95-yard march from the 5 into the end zone might have been the team’s best possession of the season. But Pittsburgh could not get its downfield passing game going even as the Bears relied on backup cornerbacks. A chance to tie the game in the final seconds came up short as Rudolph’s final fourth-down pass was batted at the line. Rudolph’s first pass of the game was intercepted, bookending negative outcomes.
Rudolph praised Rodgers as a great teammate throughout the process.
“He knows this isn’t my first first time doing this so he wasn’t blowing up my, he wasn’t talking my ear off,” Rudolph said. “But he provided some support and some extra set of veteran awesome eyes.”
Rudolph said Rodgers was “supportive of me and supportive of the offense” on the sidelines. Rodgers did not dress as the emergency third-string quarterback and was a true inactive.
Tomlin noted he expects Rodgers to return next Sunday. If healthy the rest of the year, today could serve as Rudolph’s most extensive action of the season. But he’ll remain the No. 2 quarterback one snap away from going into a game, especially knowing that the fracture in Rodgers’ left wrist won’t be completely healed by Week 13 against the Buffalo Bills.
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